What an enjoyable weekend it was.
That was my feeling late Saturday night as I relaxed in my easy chair in front of the television.
My weekend began Saturday morning with coverage of the Bainbridge High School Bearcats and Lady Cats soccer teams games against Westover at Centennial Field.
Saturday afternoon, I went to the Bainbridge Country Club to watch coach Tom Wheeler’s Bearcats golf team compete in the annual Bearcats Invitational Tournament.
I was particularly impressed with the play of Matthew Green, a Bainbridge freshman who was his team’s low medalist with a two-over-par round of 74.
After the golf tournament I went to The Charter House Inn to visit with my brother and sister-in-law Tom and Cheryl, my nephew Billy and his wife Amelia and their dear 2-1/2-year-old daughter and my great niece Evangeline.
My family, who all live in the Atlanta area and who I love very much, were here to attend Saturday night’s third-annual Decatur County Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet at Bainbridge State College’s Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center.
It was a true honor for me to have covered fellow inductee Carol Chason Whitmire, a first team All-American basketball player and member of the Valdosta State University Sports Hall of Fame, during her outstanding Bainbridge High School basketball career.
Also inducted Saturday night were 25-year Middle Georgia College head basketball coach Ben Rogers and outstanding Bainbridge High School Bearcats and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football and track performer Ed Varner.
Rogers led his Middle Georgia Warriors teams to 468 wins, seven conference championships and two region championships and is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Hall of Fame.
As a Bearcats running back, Varner was a first-team All Southwest Georgia team member and an honorable mention All-American.
At Georgia Tech, where he lettered at fullback, he ran 13 yards for a touchdown to seal the Yellow Jackets 31-21 victory over Texas Tech in the 1965 Gator Bowl.
I feel truly blessed and honored to go into the Decatur County Sports Hall of Fame with three outstanding athletes. It was truly a great weekend.